


SUNRISE

by cloudyrenjuns



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Huang Ren Jun is Whipped, Lee Jeno is Whipped, Love Triangles, M/M, Oblivious Na Jaemin, jeno loves to stare, lots of hidden meanings, renjun astronomy nerd, renjun jaemin room mates, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29591073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudyrenjuns/pseuds/cloudyrenjuns
Summary: For the past few years, the only person Renjun has ever pinned over was Na Jaemin. A few drinks later, he finds himself in the comfort of Jeno's apartment whipped for the guy full of eyesmiles.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	1. a few drinks

Flashing lights surround them. The smell of beer and vodka lingering in the air. Alone on the bar sits Renjun who stares at a dancing couple whose heads are mushed all together. His grip on his cup hardens the more he stares. He watches as the boy tucks the girl’s hair behind her and whispers sweet nothings into her ear.

_ What if that was me _ , he asks himself.  _ But it isn't you _ , he answers. 

His eyes start prickling at the thought and he closes them in order to collect himself. When he opens them once again, instead of seeing the dancing couple, he is instead greeted by a black shirt.

Confused, he looks up to see who's shirt it is. Lo and behold, it was a boy whose eye smile was so endearing that Renjun had almost felt all of his troubles wash away with one simple glance.

Keyword is— almost. 

He finds himself in a grumpy mood again once his eyes wander back to the dancing couple. He wants what  _ they _ have. 

Meanwhile, the boy in front of Renjun stares gently into his face with a sad smile. He wants  _ Renjun _ .

Jeno sits down on the stool next to Renjun. For the next few minutes, Jeno joins Renjun in being a bystander. Both of them merely observing people live their lives while killing themselves slowly.

_ One last shot _ , Renjun says to himself, as he drowns another shot of vodka. A bittersweet smile on his face as he stares at Jaemin dancing with a different girl once again.

Gnawing on his lip, Jeno finally speaks. 

"You're going to have to stop that."

Renjun stops himself halfway from drinking another shot. He takes a long blink then stares at Jeno. He lazily smiles then starts laughing. 

"Stop what?" Renjun asks, "What should I stop doing? Drinking? Staring? Thinking?" He trails off as his smile gets wider "...Living?" 

He drowns another shot of vodka. with his head tilted backward, he starts to laugh. 

"I know you may think I'm crazy right now. I'm wasting my life! For a guy. A guy who’s a het may I add." He chuckles, "But that's love, isn't it? Or is it love? I don't know!" He giggles as he spreads his arms around Jeno, drunk out of his mind.

Surprised, Jeno couldn't do anything. If he moves backward Renjun might fall off. If he pushes Renjun forward, he might hit his head. With no other choice, Jeno allows Renjun to stay in his embrace.

With a smile, Renjun snuggles into Jeno deeper. "You smell good," He giggles, "Like clouds... does that even make sense?" He pokes Jeno's arm "Clouds and buffiness... hehe... clouds and buffiness..." He trails off.

Jeno's heart melts the more he looks at the boy snuggling into him. The boy so broken that he resorted to this. All because he fell for the wrong person. 

Jeno, whose only wish is for Renjun to be happy, hugs him back tightly. He believes that hugs can instantly bring someone up, and although he is not religious, he prays it has the same effect on Renjun.

The pair stays like that for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's embrace. For them, it was only the two of them at that moment. It was only  _ Jeno  _ and  _ Renjun _ . 

☁️

It was midnight when Jeno finally decided to bring the both of them home. They had stayed in their embrace longer than expected. A good thirty minutes at most, actually. 

Entering his apartment, Jeno lays Renjun onto his own bed. With a soft smile, he gently caresses Renjun’s face with a small smile. A sudden whine releases from Renjun making Jeno quickly retract his own arm. He could only chuckle at the older guy as he tucks him in. 

Renjun snuggles deeper onto Jeno’s comforter. Unable to take his eyes off of him, all Jeno could do was stare. 

He liked Renjun like this. Looking so ethereal, as if just moments ago he wasn’t experiencing heartbreak. He wanted this for him. No pain at all. Just pure happiness.

Well, isn’t that all we want for those we love? For them to experience nothing but pure joy. One day, Jeno tells himself, one day I will give him the amount of happiness he gives me tenth fold. 

With that, Jeno leaves Renjun alone.


	2. apartment

It was quarter to 6 when Renjun woke up. He quickly stands up, alert. It wasn’t his apartment, that he knew, but whose apartment is it then?

A quick sigh of relief leaves him as he feels his phone inside his back pocket. He turns it on but regrets it once he does. The bright shine blinding him for a brief second. When his eyes finally manage to adjust themselves, they skim over the various text messages he had received from his roommate.

Sending a quick message stating how he’s fine and hasn’t been kidnapped yet, Renjun smiles as his roommate immediately sends him back a paragraph. The expressive words making him laugh. He felt loved for a quick second. 

“What are you laughing at?” 

Renjun instantly screams in fright, throwing his phone onto where the sound originated from. 

“What the fuck Renjun?” Jeno stares at him bewildered. His right arm positioned over his face as a form of protection from the phone.

“Oh,” was the only word he could utter.

“You chuck a phone at me and all you can say is oh?” Jeno rolls his eyes as he picks up the discarded phone on his carpet. “Here,” he hands Renjun his phone back “No throwing, alright?” He warns as if Renjun was a child.

Renjun scoffs as he harshly takes his phone back. He fidgets with it as everything finally settles in. He was in Jeno’s apartment. With only the two of them. Alone. His cheeks start turning bright red. The idea of Jeno tucking him in makes him squirm. Surprisingly, in a good way, but he would never admit that.

“Do you want to join me?” Jeno offers, “I was waiting for the sunrise.” 

With nothing else to do Renjun agrees. And thus he joins Jeno up on the balcony enjoying the scenery with nothing but smiles on their faces.

☁️

It was 6:21 when the sun finally decided to rise. It was beautiful, Renjun had thought. It had been so long since he had last enjoyed mornings like this. So peaceful. It was as if he was looking through the paintings he often saw hanging around the museum. The beautiful sunrises captured by mere brushstrokes. So ethereal. There really was nothing more beautiful than nature early in the morning.

“Did you know that numbers actually have hidden meanings?” Renjun suddenly blurts out. 

Jeno tilts his head towards him and asks, “Are you going to babble about math now?” 

“No!” He clears his throat, “I meant no… It's actually something that ancients did before. Our ancestors I guess. Each number represents a character or a meaning. 6:21. I thought I ought to say this to you as it actually… it’s actually quite ironic.”

Jeno gives him a soft smile as if telling him to go on. And so Renjun does go on.

“Number six represents Venus, the goddess of Love. It's a symbol of completeness… of love.” Renjun fidgets with his shoelaces as he says this. The events of yesterday flash through his mind. “And, uh, two represents the union of peace and it seeks to end… separateness. Lastly, one...” He trails off once again.

A moment of silence envelops the two. When Jeno realizes Renjun wasn’t pausing for effect, he quickly looks at the said man. And there he was with a frown on his face. His shoelaces untied due to the number of times he had fidget with them. Taking a bold choice, Jeno places his hand over Renjun’s hand.

Shocked, Renjun’s eyes abandon his shoelaces and he stares at Jeno’s face. The latter was staring at the sunrise with a smile on his face. Renjun admires him for a moment. The orange hue reflecting perfectly on his sculptured face, making him look as if he was in a painting. One that deserves to be hung in museums and praised. 

“Well? Aren’t you going to continue?” Jeno asks him. The brown-haired boy stares confused at the latter till it snaps inside of him.

“Oh! Uh… number one. Number one symbolizes the sun. It’s about confidence and standing up straight – Hence why it symbolizes the sun as it brings its energy. It also resonates with the vibrations of creation and new beginnings.”

“That’s interesting,” Jeno starts as his hand leaves Renjun’s, “How these numbers that we often just associate with math has hidden meanings inside of it. I never… I never really thought of it that way…”

Renjuns holds himself tightly as he suddenly feels cold. “It’s alright. No one really thinks of it this way. Same way with astrology. Most think oh they’re just stars. It’s all just science. But there’s a deeper meaning to it. There’s always one, most just don’t bother to look too deeply into it.”

A light hum can be heard from Jeno. “And that's what makes you so special, Huang Renjun. As you are part of that small percentage of people who do look.”

With parted lips, all Renjun could do was stare in shock. He never thought of himself as  _ special _ . He thought he was weird, actually. Deep inside him, he knew he didn’t fit in, so he made himself fit in. All the curiosities all questions were hidden in a deep chest right inside of him, all to fit in.

It was painful, but he did what he had to do. He thinks. 

“Now let me say my two cents,” Jeno’s eyes flicker as he has a mental debate inside of him.

“You Huang Renjun are a liar. You lie too much. Not only to everyone… but most importantly to yourself. You think people don’t know but they do. And I am one of those people who do know. If there is one thing I am sure I know, it is  _ you _ .”

Jeno stands up from his chair as Renjun stares. The latter feels scared but at the same time curious. How much does he really think he knows?

"I’ll just leave this with you, Jun. You can have multiple true loves. Just because you no longer love someone right now doesn't mean you didn't truly love them before. You did. That love was true. It's just that it really wasn't meant to be. And that truth hurts even more. Knowing that you truly loved someone but that love wasn't enough to make it last. But it doesn’t mean you’re stuck on that true love. You’re just making yourself run around in circles. You figure out what I mean, you’re a smart boy you can do this."

And so Jeno leaves him alone in the balcony, questioning everything he had once thought of.

☁️ 

The sun had fully risen by the time Renjun left the balcony. He felt numb… in a way. He knew there was some truth in Jeno’s words but he couldn’t digest them. He was scared to face the truth.

Cliche, as it seems, that's the thing about love.

You get hurt, you heal, then you get hurt all over again.

It’s hard to let go of someone once you truly see them for who they are. All the flaws, all the beauty. They all just mush together and form a giant hole. One that you think you can fill up.

However, there are instances wherein the hole overflows or isn’t filled enough.

_ It doesn’t fit _ .

But even when you know it doesn’t, you force yourself to fit into it— and so there is always either overflowing love in there or a cloud of darkness.

And there Renjun’s love was. Spilling.


	3. flowers

It was 10 am by the time Renjun arrived at his dorm. The blue-haired boy wanted to accompany him home but Renjun had  _ insisted _ on walking home.

It was because he needed time to think. And to calm his cheeks.

While eating breakfast, minute-per-minute Renjun got flustered from Jeno’s eye smile. His small bursts of laughter when Renjun spilled his pancake syrup, to him reassuring the boy that he didn’t make a mess.

He felt at ease with the boy… which scared him. 

Sighing, he enters his key into the doorknob and turns it. Immediately, he was greeted with a big hug from his roommate.

“Huang Renjun!” A quick sigh of relief leaves his roommate's mouth. 

Once again Renjun’s cheeks heat up but he hides it, using Jeno’s hoodie to conceal his face.

“You really didn’t have to worry too much Nana…” 

A whine leaves Jaemin’s mouth, “You left without telling me at the party and you didn’t even bother to tell me where you were last night how could I not get worried?”

_ For once, please shut up. _ Renjun thinks to himself as he walks to his room.

“Are you really just going to ignore me?”

Mid-way through from twisting his doorknob he freezes. “I’m tired, Jaemin. Leave me alone.”

Renjun can already imagine his face. The slight pout on his lips along with his disheveled black hair and glasses. It made him weak, but he needed time for himself.

A soft _ oh _ leaves Jaemin’s lips. That really was all he could say. He isn't used to getting ignored. Especially from Renjun.

The older male enters his room and closes his door with a bang. Leaving the younger one to wonder as to what just happened.

Twice he blinks, then he turns around. Tempted to open the door he grabs for the doorknob. But he stops himself. Jeno passes through his mind. He doesn’t know why, but now all he could think about was the blue-haired boy who smells like clouds and milk. He doesn’t even know what clouds smell like.

All he knows is that Jeno’s a mess. A fluffy mess. 

One that he wants to cuddle forever. To protect and to love.

Unknowingly, a soft smile forms on Renjun’s mouth as his back hits the door. He slides down onto his knees as he tightly grasps Jeno’s hoodie. One that fits him comfortably, enough space to even fit another him.

☁️ 

It was Saturday when Renjun saw Jeno again. He was working in the local flower shop when Jeno entered the room.

“Welcome to Aphrodite’s Flo—”

A pause. Eyes wide open as a blush starts to cover his cheeks. The brunet rushes over to the blue-haired boy.

His thoughts were all jumbled. He looked good with his full black ensemble. His turtleneck showing off his lean figure, paired up with his black pants and leather jacket giving off an intimidating vibe.

But one look at his face and everything crumbles down. His eye smile… His fucking eye smile broke Renjun down.

“Renjun?” A confused look plastered onto Jeno’s face. “Do you have a fever? Or is it too hot in here?” Question after question he asks the blushing boy.

“I-I…” He could barely speak. What was he even supposed to say?  _ You fucking caused this? I’m not sick, but I may be falling for you? _

“I’m alright, Jeno. It’s okay I guess I’m just tired.”

He frowned. It made Renjun want to hug him and tell him everything’s alright. “Have you not been sleeping well? Do you want me to take over for you as you take a nap? I could you know, if you want, I can handle plants. Although—”

Renjun laughs. His head is thrown back as his eyes disappear.  _ Cute _ , they both think together.

“It alright Jeno, my lunch break is in a few minutes anyway.”

Jeno stiffens and then brightens. “That reminds me!” He suddenly blurts out, “Do you want to have lunch with me?”

Renjun blushes,  _ again _ . Which made Jeno concerned,  _ again _ .

“Give me a minute to close everything and we can go out,”

“Uh, no, actually…” Jeno brushes his hand against his nape. He felt embarrassed as he showed the shorter guy what he was holding.

“I actually… I cooked something for the both of us. And I was thinking… Maybe we could just eat it here? Together?”

Gaping at him, Renjun struggled to form the proper words. _He cooked food... for the both of them?_ He eagerly holds Jeno's hand as a surge of confidence spread through him, the younger one quickly blushing at the action.

“I would love that, Jeno.”


End file.
